Now that we're officially at the halfway mark of our "no-spend challenge," I'd thought I'd give a little update.
As a reminder, I did one final grocery shop just before going on this challenge. Then I said I'd buy one tank of gas and my two Sunday papers each week, and leave it at that. (Oh, but I did have to pay my bills this week – unfortunately, they weren't exempt from this challenge. Don't think my phone company would be any too pleased if I said, "sorry, we're not spending any money right now. You'll just have to wait.")
While there have been a few tempting sales and deals this week, I am proud to say we've stuck to our plan! It's been nice letting our checking account have a break – it's enabled us to get caught up on some things and even hawk a little extra away in our savings account.
However, looking ahead to the next week I think we are going to have to rely on a little creativity to get us through. I apparently didn't buy enough milk, bread, or cheese (we're major cheese fiends over here) to make it through 15 full days. So I might have to change up our planned menu a bit. For instance, we might eat quesadillas when we run out of bread. And when we run out of cheese, well, I guess we'll make tortilla chips! I'm not much of a baker, but I was thinking for times like these, it might be nice to have some yeast on hand. (Incidentally, does anyone know of a good bread recipe where you don't need yeast? Or will I just end up with crackers?)
Incidentally, Money Saving Mom has been on an Eating from the Pantry Challenge the last few days. I've been inspired to see what sort of yummy recipes she concocts all from what she already has at home. (I do think she stocks up on yeast though…and knows what to actually do with it!) She's currently managed to avoid grocery shopping for going on two weeks now. She's my hero.
Photo courtesy stock.xchng
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Good job! You and Money Saving Mom are inspiring me to try something for the month of April. I don’t think I’m ready for a no spend challenge (unless my hubby were out of town – he’s too hungry at the end of the day for what I might have to end up coming up with), but I might try taking $100 out of my regular grocery budget. We’ll see.
Good luck on the rest of your week. I would be panicking about the lack of milk situation, but it won’t last forever!
We use milk for cereal, so when it runs out, we’ll eat oatmeal. My son likes to drink milk, but he can just as well drink water or OJ.
I think I’d be panicking if was about to run out of coffee, though…
And even if you can’t entirely do a “no spend” challenge…I think it would be WELL worth the effort to challenge yourself in a way that makes sense for you! Good luck. Oh, and let me know about what you decide to do and how it works for you. I’m hankering to get some stories and testimonials from my readers posted here!
I used to go grocery shopping every couple of weeks. Then things changed for us and I stopped going–at all. For the last couple of years, I have only been able to go a few times. Here is our story if you’re interested: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/LivingonourFoodStorage.aspx
Yeast IS important (buy it in bulk to save money).
I have learned to make bread the last couple of years.
Here are the bread recipes I make: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/breads.aspx
The chapatis, biscuits, muffins, banana bread and popovers don’t require any yeast.
Hopefully those will help you!
I am also doing the challenge this week. I find it very refreshing to not go shopping. But, the challenge isn’t much of a challenge for us. We have about 6 months worth of food storage in our house, so we pretty much always are eating from the pantry. I’m working on getting a whole year’s worth so, this is why I still go shopping. As The Prudent Homemaker said before me, yeast IS important! If you want to learn to make bread, go to youtube and watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8DvaDq7JPg Anyone can make bread!! And, with very little yeast at that!
Prudent Homemaker & Kim: WOW!!! You two are pretty amazing. For me, yes, this is a total challenge on so many levels – no fast food, ordering pizza, grocery stores, drug stores, online “must-haves,” nada! Thank you for sharing your stories and inspiring me today.
Thank you also for sharing your resources with me & my readers. I am going to see if I can put any of your recipes to use this week.